Spartan Days
by The Great Valley Guardian
Summary: A Spartan III cadet is chosen to save the galaxy, but first he has to survive his intense training and augmentation.


**2230 Hours, August 13th, 2537 (Military Calendar) \ Zeta Doradus System, Above Camp Currahee, Planet Onyx**

It was dark, it was crowded, and he knew why he was here. He was an orphan… or at least that is what he'd been told when he'd awakened on the star ship heading towards this planet. He had been told just like the other 412 children here, that he'd be a defender of humanity, and able to take revenge against the creatures or humans that attacked his home on Mars. So here is where he was now, thousands of feet up in the air, on what the older men had called a Pelican, with a quick release harness strapped to his back, as he stared out at the dark night sky.

The older man who they called Mendez was standing there and asked loud enough to be heard over the sound of roaring air and engine flare, "Who will jump first cadets? If you want to get revenge this is the first step! Now who is first?"

The child currently at the age of five years old, took a single step forward, remembering the sound of an explosion on his home at Mars before arriving here, and whoever made that explosion happen he was going to do whatever it took to get even with them. "I will sir!" cried the child as he stepped to the boarding ledge. However before he could take the jump a hand clamped down on his shoulder pulling him back a few steps.

The child who'd done this shouted into his ear. "You can't go first! I have to get revenge on the aliens! You can wait!"

The child grimaced as he threw the other kids hand off his shoulder. "I'm going first! You want to try and get past me?!" he asked challengingly as he turned to face his opponent. Without another word however both boys were scuffling with each other right next to the edge of the drop ship, but still were close enough to prevent any of the other kids from jumping as well.

Now officially getting fed up with both waiting and watching these two kids duke it out, Chief Petty Officer Mendez did the only thing he could think of to end this stupid tug of war. He reared back, raising his foot as he did so, and literally booted both boys out of the Pelican and into the night air. The two boys fell through the sky, both still clawing and kicking at each other trying to be first off of the Pelican neither having realized they were falling until the five year old looked down and saw the sky and ground racing to meet them both.

The five year old boy let go of his assailants arms, kicking him in the gut for good measure, ensuring he could free fall without worry. After several seconds of feeling the wind blow past his face, and his fear rising as he realized he was coming in far too fast, he reached up, pulling the red chord on his shoulder strap and felt his body jerk upwards with bone jarring force as the sail opened above him, slowing his decent. After only three seconds he realized it still wasn't enough… he'd fallen too far, too fast. His only hope to survive was to land in the lake nearby. He quickly angled his parachute towards the lake, still knowing he was moving far too quickly to land safely.

He only had one real option left now, he was over the water, but moving so quickly if he didn't release his harness he'd get tangled in it and drown… or hit the water so hard he'd break bones. Of course this dilemma only lasted about a millisecond before the child knew which would be the lesser of two evils. He quickly and with shaking hands, pulled the release lever and felt the harness snap apart freeing him from it's constraints… .and letting him free fall into the lake, hitting the surface so hard it stunned him for several seconds as he struggled to figure out which way was up, with less air than he started with as the impact of the water forced the air from his lungs. He kicked and swung his arms underwater clawing for the surface, praying to some other power that he'd be able to taste fresh air again.

It took three grueling minutes, but the five year old finally broke the surface and gasped for air, coughing as he did so, as he could still feel his lungs burning from the lack of air moments before. With what little energy the child had left he swam over to the edge of the lake, crawling up on shore finally coming to rest on his knees, soaked to the bone, cold, and in a considerable amount of pain but was sure that no bones had been broken upon impact with the water.

He felt his body convulse as it tried to warm itself from the cold. He then glanced up a the night sky with the moon shining brightly overhead as he finally finding his voice shouted aloud, "My name… is RICKTOR LANDON!" He then sneezed as he laid down on his back before adding. "And I will… survive."

"Well then Ricktor, I guess we can say that was one hell of rabbit hole huh?" called the voice of the other child whom Rick had fought with on the Pelican and through the sky. The other kid reached down, offering his hand to Rick. "Come on… lets' get our revenge together." he said with a devious, almost malicious grin on his face. "My name is Christian by the way."

Rick grinned right back as he took Christians hand getting to his feet still feeling a bit tired. "Thanks. Revenge sounds good… let's get to work." he said with a laugh and a cough.

 **Several Hours Later….**

Commander Kurt Ambrose stood watching the footage of the trainees as they took the plunge, but was focused on two of them in particular. "Those two were willing to fight to jump first… going so far as to hold everyone else up."

"I'd say that's damned impressive for those two." commented Mendez with a chuckle as he watched again as he kicked the two boys from the Pelican. "I may have to get a copy of that moment for posterity." he said with another chuckle.

"Yeah, but you can see that smile those two have on their faces? Those smiles." commented Kurt with a smile of his own. "I think this company of Spartans III's are going to be a destructive bunch." Kurt then turned around to face Mendez. "Lets see how much training they can really take."

"You read my mind sir." replied Mendez as he grinned.

 **1620 Hours, August 24, 2541 (Military Calendar) \ Zeta Doradus System, Near Camp Currahee, Planet Onyx**

They were pinned down by bullet fire. truth be told the three of them sitting in this ditch was starting to get monotonous. "We have got to do something! I think I can feel my legs cramping up on me." complained Jessica.

Christian couldn't help but laugh. "You never were one for sitting still Jessica."

Jessica just scowled and looked over at Rick. "Hey, you've been awfully quiet sniper boy. You have a plan or what?" she asked trying to focus on the task at hand. Rick however just took a deep breath as he turned to face Jessica. "I'm thinking we need to take a hit, to make a hit."

Jessica giggled at that. "You know that is the stupidest thing I think you've ever said during a combat situation." she replied with a smile.

"Still… it proves he has a sense of humor even when under stress." commented Christian as he laughed as well. Then it was Ricks turn to scowl as he replied, "Ya know, I expect that kind of stupidity from Jessica, cause, well… she's Jessy… but you Christian, I thought would get the gist of where I'm going with this." Before Christian could answer however, Jessica reached over and punched Rick in the the thigh hard.

Rick already being on his knees to avoid the incoming fire, just grinned despite the ache in his leg. "You know you like it when I pick on ya." he replied as he glanced at Christian for a moment. "You still think it won't work?" he asked.

"No, I was laughing because I won't let you do it… you know those things paralyze any part of your body they hit… imagine being beaten down like that just because you wanted to play the hero." Rick shook his head. "well guess what? You two don't have a choice. We need to ring that bell… and this is the best way to do it." he replied.

"When I stand up to face those two guns, you each run in an opposite direction. Ring that bell and secure your spots in this program." he looked over to both of them with a serious glare in his eyes. "Understand?" he asked as if to put an end to any potential argument they could give, and to his relief both Christian and Jessica nodded their heads, now fully aware that Rick planned to sacrifice not only his chance to be a S-III candidate, but to ensure that _they_ did.

Rick stood up to his full height and upon taking his first step, he threw his fist out in the air, and miraculously deflected the first shot from the auto turret with his bare fist, but the immediate effect was that of his whole hand, and his wrist on his right arm going completely numb to all feeling. He then swung his body around, and allowed the next shot to impact his boot, sending a wave of pain to lance up his entire right leg, forcing Rick to his knees.

In a desperate attempt to keep from getting nailed in the face with those stun rounds, Rick raised her arms and covered his entire face, being sure to hold stock still as he felt several dozen stun pellets slam into his chest, shoulders, wrists, hands, and even a few got low enough to target his groin. The cadet fell over into the grass as he was now literally paralyzed from the neck down. It stung like a bastard… however he could still hear the sound of a bell being rung in the distance and knew that both Jessica and Christian had done as he'd asked and rang the bell.

He now wanted more than anything to ring that bell right alongside them, but he'd made his choice. He couldn't move… he wanted desperately to move at least out of the range of those damned guns… but even if he had the strength to move, it wasn't going to happen. The very moment he so much as twitched, he would be fired upon again by both turrets.

Kurt stared at the monitor shaking his head. "The kids got guts… and he cares. Perhaps too much. It might just cost him his spot in the program." "But perhaps he'll do what the others so far have done and do the impossible."

Mendez however kept a passive, almost stone like face as he grunted. "Doesn't matter to me. He made his choice, now he has to live with it."

The current AI of the base Deep Winter appeared in a flurry of digital snow flakes. "Sir… I've retrieved the data you wanted on the cadet. And it seems you were right, all of his DNA sequences match up literally within two percent. That would put him in a very special category wouldn't you agree?"

Kurt gave a grim smile. "Yes, I do agree." That grim smile however turned slowly into one of amusement. "And perhaps now, we're about to find out why."

Mendez stared at the monitor and couldn't help but comment. "Dear God. What is driving this kid?"

"My guess would be…. revenge sirs." remarked Deep Winter with a ruffle of his cape.

Rick still couldn't feel anything… but if the last day and a half of being out in these fields had taught him one thing, it was that the human body was capable of things most wouldn't think possible. His body may have been numb from the neck down, but he could still breath… and that meant that while his body would be unable to feel, it didn't mean he couldn't move. The ten year old cadet with more effort than he thought should have needed, he slowly, agonizingly slowly got to his feet.

Upon standing he heard the chain guns turn their automated motion trackers on his body and open fired once again.

Using only one arm to protect his head and face, Rick slowly stepped forward getting closer to his goal… the forest where the guns couldn't track his progress any further. But going was slow as every rubber stun pellet slammed into his body, knocking more air from his lungs, and in some cases hitting him with enough force to be pushed back a step. But after literally ten minutes of slow, staggering steps he'd made it past the turrets, despite his body being pelted raw from the rubber bullets, and some of his skin now cracked and bleeding into his sweatsuit the kid grinned. He'd made it this far, but he could still hear the bell being rung, and he slowly with the fire of determination in his eyes, contented to walk forward wanting nothing more than to ring that bell.

Christian and Jessica were sitting up in a tree waiting for more DI's to show up to ambush them with the gear, and weapons the other candidates had retrieved. When they heard another rustling in the foliage, they took aim and were ready to shoot. Only the sight of what greeted them stopped them… and a few others trainees cold in their tracks.

"No way…" commented one trainee as he turned to face Jessica before asking. "I thought you said he took those guns for you? He shouldn't be able to twitch let alone move!"

"If what you told us was true… and he really did take all those shots for you guys, and he's here…" commented another cadet.

Rick however didn't hear a thing as he sluggishly stepped forward, ringing the bell, the sound being akin to having his soul set free. Only then did he realize something was wrong as his body felt cold… too cold. He fell to his knees again as his body could no longer support itself, and his chest constricted as his lungs and heart stopped sending him into cardiac arrest, passing out before he hit the ground.

His eyes opened but it almost hurt to do just that. As if three ton weights had been planked on his eyes, and the moment the light hit his corneas he inhaled and gave a shocked scream as his eyes burned like sulfur and acid.

He felt a pair of hand hold his shoulders down to try and keep him still. He still couldn't see, and since it hurt to open his eyes even the slightest, he tried to speak. "…." he knew his vocal chords worked, but it must've been longer than a week, or his body was weaker than he thought. His hearing however was working better than his other senses. And he heard a voice, a voice he'd heard before but his mind was having trouble recognizing who the voice belonged to.

" _I_ _'_ _ll always pick you up, when you fall down. We_ _'_ _re a team, and you don_ _'_ _t_ _…_ _you don_ _'_ _t leave teammates behind. Not ever._ _"_ And in a brief moment of clarity he did recognize the voice. However he opened his mouth to try to speak. "J…"

A finger gently graced his lips as he heard a distinctly female voice speak again. "Shhh… just rest. You need to save your strength." Then another voice joined the first this one clearly masculine. "Dude, you are an absolute badass. Even death couldn't stop you."

His thoughts were racing faster than his body could process. There were so many things he didn't seem to remember, and keeping his eyes closed wasn't helping at all. But he knew it would hurt like hell if he tried to open his eyes again. He then heard the female voice telling him to open his mouth, and honestly he trusted the voice so he opened his mouth and immediately felt water poured into his mouth, but just as quickly chocked on it as his throat was dry and constricted.

After a few seconds of coughing he takes a deep breath as he finally found his working vocal chords. "D-did… I.. I m-make…"

"Yeah dude. it's official, you're a Spartan III."

Rick flexed his throat muscles, trying his hardest to get them to work again. This wouldn't be too hard, but he knew it would be annoying to have to struggle with something so basic as speaking.

"Hey, don't push yourself yet Rick." commented Christian.

"Yeah, the augmentations were only a week ago… you're body has been out of it since before they were completed, you… may need to get reacquainted with yourself, first." commented the Jessica.

Rick finally found the strength to open his eyes once more, however this time the effect was soft, easier to deal with as if his eyes simply needed to readjust to doing their basic function. As he looked upon his friends Jessica and Christian, however as he does, the final mutation from the augmentations kicks in as Ricks iris' colors change from hazel brown to steel green.

He could see clearly, almost too clearly. Everything was so sharp it seemed wrong. But Rick knew that it would just take a few days to get used to. He then took a haggard breath of air, suddenly feeling a great deal stronger, as if the simple act of breathing was giving him back all the strength he'd lost over the last few weeks.

Just then Commander Ambrose as well as Chief Mendez stepped into the room.

"Good to see you're awake Spartan 225." comments Mendez with a nod.

Kurt however stepped forward, stepping next to the hospital bed and saluting the trainee. "Congratulations Ricktor. You've literally done the impossible and proved that you are a Beta Company Spartan. So how do you feel?' he asked wanting to hear Rick's own response.

Rick sat up putting his back against the pillow on his bed before saluting as he replies, "I feel like I got hit by a giant, metal planet. But… this does prove one thing true."

The others looked confused, as Christian asks, "What is that?"

Rick chuckled with a slight wince, as he spoke. "Spartans never die… We just fight harder than ever to live." he then grins as if he were purposely trying to bare his teeth like an animal "And I plan to fight for the rest of my life!"


End file.
